The derogatory cognition of their own humanity by workplace workers, that is, self-dehumanization, has brought many negative consequences to both enterprises and themselves. Although many external inducements were found through previous research, it is still unknown which group of people is more prone to self-dehumanization. Therefore, this study investigated the relationship between different subgroups of homo economicus beliefs, the priority of economic roles, and self-dehumanization by surveying 814 participants with work experience. The results indicated that homo economicus beliefs could be distinguished into four subgroups: moderate, cold, warm and reverse. Comparative analysis revealed that the cold subgroup exhibited the highest level of self-dehumanization, making them a high-risk group, while the warm subgroup showed the lowest level of self-dehumanization, qualifying them as an immune group. Further mediation analysis indicated that only the cold subgroup was associated with self-dehumanization through the priority of economic roles. In summary, the cold subgroup represents a high-risk group for self-dehumanization, and the priority of economic roles is a risk factor.